Brisbane Dairies

The Chinese Government has made a “complete miscalculation” by taking the “long handle” to Australia following calls for an inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic and risks uniting Western allies against the country. That’s according to former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer, who said China’s aggressive sense of “wolf warrior” diplomacy in the wake of the pandemic has taken many nations by surprise. Mr Downer, who also previously served as high commissioner to the UK and now works as Chairman of Trustees for UK think tank the Policy Exchange, said Western allies previously had different views on how to manage their relationship with the superpower. But the “vehemence” of China’s reaction to the Australian calls for an inquiry has shocked many. Read more:  https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/global/complete-miscalculation-what-china-got-wrong-about-australia-in-the-wake-of-coronavirus-pandemic/news-story/d6701c75afcf447cdded379bc5d3e977

Before COVID-19, Paul Gripske's family business was suffering. A wholesaler of spare parts for lawnmowers and other outdoor power tools, its manufacturing arm makes more than 3.5 million mower blades each year. But the recent drought hit hard. "We're a grass-driven business. [If the] grass doesn't grow, people certainly don't mow dirt," Mr Gripske tells ABC RN's The Money. Then, two things happened: It rained in February, and the Government allowed Roy Gripske & Sons to continue operating throughout the pandemic shutdown. Read more:  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/andrew-liveris-manufacturing-in-australia-after-coronavirus/12387448

A group of Australian and international palaeontologists have identified a giant wombat-like animal so unique they had to create an entirely new family of marsupials. In a paper published in Scientific Reports, researchers from Griffith University, the University of Salford, the Natural History Museum in London and the University of New South Wales analysed and described the 25-million-year old fossil remains found in central Australia, known as Mukupirna. Read more: https://news.griffith.edu.au/2020/06/30/new-fossil-family-of-giant-wombat-relatives-discovered-in-australia/